SOME elements of the Government are now confident the IRA will declare a ceasefire before the opening of all party talks on Monday week.
They are basing their optimism on the obsessive interest being shown by the Sinn Fein leadership in the minutiae of the structures, procedures and agenda for the negotiations, currently being discussed with the British government.
Where as the Taoiseach has based his hope that the ceasefire will be reinstated on the "logic" of an agreed date for all party talks, other informed sources are now optimistic because of Sinn Fein's keen interest in how the talks will proceed over the first few days. This has come to light in recent meetings at official level with the party's representatives.
The Anglo Irish liaison group of officials will meet in London today to begin drafting the procedures and agenda for the negotiations. They hope to produce an agreed draft for presentation to the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, and the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, at their next meeting on Tuesday in London.
It is understood that governments hope to set out an agenda for the political and decommissioning talks aimed at preventing any breakdown in the first two weeks of negotiations.
The general scenario being considered by the two governments is that representatives of the to most successful parties in yesterday's elections and, probably, Mr Major and Mr Bruton would make opening statements on their positions at the first plenary session. These speeches would have no time limit and could take two or more days.
The participants would then move on to the agenda for the negotiations, setting out and agreeing how the three strands of talks internal, North/South and East/West would be addressed.
When that political agenda was agreed, it is being proposed that a sub committee of all parties would consider an approach in which some decommissioning would take place during the process of all party negotiations, rather than before or after the negotiations. This is the compromise suggested in paragraph 34 of the Mitchell report.
Mr Spring told a party function in Kilkenny last night that now was the time for the IRA to take the step that would enable Sinn Fein to bring its own insight and arguments to the table.
